Trevor Hoffman liked how it worked out for Tony Gwynn, a Padres icon and San Diegophile who ended his career with the club and has remained a Padres ambassador.

“I looked at how Tony Gwynn is viewed in this city – pretty special,” baseball's all-time saves leader said Friday in his first public remarks since the Padres withdrew a one-year offer to him Monday. “It would have been nice.”

Rather than return to the Padres, who have employed him since they traded for him in June 1993, Hoffman will move on to another club via free agency, he said Friday.

He expressed anger over how his career with the Padres ended: A one-year offer “ripped off the table,” on Monday, followed by a phone call from General Manager Kevin Towers to Hoffman in Puerto Rico, where he was vacationing with ballplayers from several clubs.

“They took this deal away,” Hoffman said. “It's not that I didn't want it. This is by their doing.”

Hoffman said he doesn't believe an agreement can be worked out with the Padres, although CEO Sandy Alderson – without saying that the offer would be returned – kept the door slightly ajar in remarks to The Union-Tribune on Tuesday.

“They have shut the door,” Hoffman said Friday. “Sandy and the organization have tried to put the spin that there is still this hope and chance, saying 'We'll meet with Trevor' – there's been no want on their end to have something like that happen. This deal is done because of them.”

Hoffman used the word “spin” a few times when describing front office's actions in recent negotiations, and he included owner John Moores, Alderson and Towers in that context.

He also described the organization as “dysfunctional,” saying that relations between the players and the front office are far short of when CEO Larry Lucchino and staff staged roundtable meetings.

To that end, Hoffman felt he could be of service after his career ended, envisioning some sort of role with the club to “bridge the gap” between players and management.

“I feel some of the dysfunction of our organization is relationships,” he said. “Great teams don't expect everyone to get along. They know there will be differences.

“We're a dysfunctional team. We used to have roundtables with management. We used to speak openly and used to feel like we we're on same page, or at least on the same level when they spoke.

“It has become contentious. I think I could have helped. I would have been a good fit, going to other side after my career. It was something that I thought could be productive.”

Hoffman said he wanted to discuss that subject, among others, with Moores in the meeting that his longtime agent, Rick Thurman, had requested last month.

“It was something that I could talk to John about,” he said. “That's a reason the meeting was important, I felt. Sandy felt it was something that was unnecessary.”

Asked Friday if he considers the relationship between the front office and Padres players is dysfunctional, Alderson said, “No. Not at all. Most of the communication comes from Kevin.” He added, “One of us can check and see the last time we had a roundtable, but we certainly have had those.”

Hoffman and Towers describe each other as friends. After the two met in Milwaukee in September, both men expressed optimism that a deal would be worked out.

In mid-October, the Padres offered Hoffman a $4 million salary without performance bonuses, plus a $4 million team option without a buyout for 2010. Hoffman, whose salary was $7.5 million in 2008, wanted performance bonuses for the deal, he said, so that he “could play for pay” in the event he piled up more saves than the 30 he got last year.

All the same, some have wondered why Hoffman didn't take the deal, which was on the table for several weeks.

“I thought it was insane that Trevor didn't accept the offer,” said one of Hoffman's longtime friends.

Why didn't Hoffman take the offer?

“I didn't think the offer would be ripped off the table like it was,” Hoffman said Friday. “But that's a good question, a fair question. I think that all adds to the surprise to it.”

Hoffman said that in September, the Padres gave him the impression something would be worked out by season's end, adding to his frustration when the offer didn't come until mid-October.

He Friday characterized it as a “take it or leave it” offer, though Thurman didn't portray it as such in comments to the Union-Tribune on Tuesday.

“It wasn't a take it or leave it offer,” Alderson said Friday. “It probably was characterized as close to where we would end up, but certainly it was not a take it or leave it offer.”

Now able to accept offers from other clubs, Hoffman said he plans to move his wife and three sons to another city if he doesn't find a new team close to home.

“I have an open canvas,” said Hoffman, who lives in Rancho Santa Fe, not far from one of Moores' residential properties. “I have no hindrances as far as any team is concerned. I would be willing to go anywhere and play everywhere. I have three boys in school. It will be viewed as an unbelievable opportunity for them.

“Home will be here when I'm done. We've been very, very fortunate to be able to do this in San Diego for 16 years.”

But to hear Hoffman, he believes the Padres bum-rushed him out the door. He was at a dinner function with several major-league stars when Towers told him the offer was off the table.

“It was definitely a bit strange,” said Hoffman, who returned to San Diego on Thursday night. “I wasn't prepared to be told that way. I knew things weren't great, but I didn't anticipate being told over the phone after 16 years of service.”

He said it upset him that Moores and Alderson didn't consent to a meeting.

“Really, the ultimate goal was to get in the room so there would be no miscommunication, and to convey I wanted to be in a Padres uniform for the rest of my career,” Hoffman said.

On Nov. 6 – seven days before he could begin accepting other offers for Hoffman – Thurman expressed disappointment to the Union-Tribune that the Padres front office had gone 12 days without responding to his request for the meeting.

Alderson, who said Moores is exempted from negotiations as matter of policy, said it bothered him that Thurman went public with his disappointment. Within two days of Alderson and Moores seeing that story, the club told Thurman the offer was off the table.

Hoffman converted 88 percent of his save attempts last season, which tied for second in the National League and was close to his career mark of 89 percent. Still able to create deception with his changeup, the right-hander struck out 9.13 batters per nine innings, which was his best average since 2003 and ranked 27th among NL pitchers.

His 3.77 ERA, though, was his highest since 1995, and he gave up home runs at Petco Park with far greater frequency. The last-place Padres afforded him fewer save chances than usual, and Hoffman worked only 45-1/3 innings, a career low.

“Trevor Time” may be over in San Diego, but Hoffman drew a distinction.

“My career's not over,” he said. “When it is done, we will come home and retire here. I don't know what the future holds, but that part of it can be exciting.”

Alderson was asked if he has any regrets over how the club handled the matter.

“In a situation like this, there are always things that one could do differently that might lead to a different outcome,” he said. “From our standpoint, we withdrew an offer that had been outstanding for almost four weeks, simply because we couldn't afford to have it out there much longer on an open-ended basis. It would have been nice if we could have had some additional dialogue thereafter, and hopefully that will take place. That remains to be seen.”